Tea party politicians returning to Dark Ages

The Republican Party is a far-right religious party similar to the political extremist parties on the fringes of many European countries and not unlike the religious parties seeking dominance in the Middle East. Republicans eschew science; favor greed over egalitarianism; seek control over women's bodies; worship Ayn Rand like Paul Ryan does; favor the abolition of public education, which has been the bedrock of democracy; favor polluting our air and water; applaud the use of drones to kill innocent people; and wish to destroy all programs that help those in need, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They roundly applaud those who avoid paying their fair share of taxes. When James Henry, former chief economist at the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey & Company, documented that the 1 percent have as much as $32 trillion of hidden assets in offshore tax havens, representing up to $280 billion in lost income tax revenue, they said, ''So what?''

''We now have a party with elected leaders who think child labor laws are unconstitutional (Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah), who would repeal the Civil Rights Act (Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky), who think climate change is 'the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people' (Republican Sen. James Inhofe),'' Sally Kohn said on salon.com. ''The rightward tilt of the Republican Party has been so swift and so extreme that today, not only do both Bushes and Ronald Reagan look too liberal, but frankly so do John McCain and Mitt Romney (which is why Mitt Romney pandered to the extreme conservative base by picking Paul Ryan as his running mate).''

Do tea party politicians really want us to return to the dark days of the Middle Ages? Yes they do! And Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is one of them.